Someone like you, Someone like me
by Inkkerfuffle
Summary: In which Adrien figures things out and Marinette is oblivious. "He was sure. Well, almost 70% at least. Adrien Agreste had figured out the secret identity of his Ladybug. Now the problem was figure out what to do with all this information."
1. Part I Twenty Percent

**Part one. Twenty Percent**

* * *

He was _sure_. Well, almost 70% at least. Adrien Agreste had figured out the secret identity of his Ladybug. Not that he had purposefully set out to do so, but the signs had been popping up more and more, and they were getting a bit difficult to ignore now. It all began when he began noticing the shy girl who sat behind him at class. It was then, and only then that he began _seeing_ it. At first,he felt that it was just his brain trying to find and answer tothe mystery that was Ladybug. But then... he began remembering more things, like the time Nathanial was possessed by the akuma and for some reason Ladybug couldn't help until Marinette was completely out of the picture. Sure, it didn't occur to him then, but now it was all piecing together. She was also _never_ there when an Akuma showed up and adding that to several other things, seemed to just suggest that maybe, just maybe, his shy classmate was a strong superhero who saved Paris (and himself too), time after time.

And as it seemed to happen so many times lately, his inner mind musings had distracted him from the real world; where they were walking to the gym with the whole class. Just how long had Nino been talking, and did he notice that he was lost in his mind? "…And that is why I will go and join the circus as a pink elephant"

 _Ah_. So he had.

"Sorry, sorry" he told Nino, giving his friend an apologetic smile, "I was just… distracted".

"You've been _really distracted_ lately" Nino said, brown eyes playfully flashing to where Alya and Marinette were walking in their group, animatedly chatting between themselves.

Adrien sighed, but said nothing, they were already at the track, and their teacher had begun talking. "Alright children, gather around" said the teacher, holding a clipboard in her hand as she waited for the students to pay attention. The track had what appeared to be a small obstacle course built inside of it, with several barriers that they had to jump over, all off different heights. It didn't seem to be that difficult to him, but he had been trained in several different disciplines that would help him power through, even if he didn't have the extra help that being Chat Noir gave him.

"Alright, we'll divide the race between boys and girls" the teacher said, ignoring the groans coming from the students "I'll sweeten the deal. The first three places on each race, will get a pass from the class next week. Yes, you'll get this period free next week" That caught the students'attention, and the teacher waited for a second before continuing "Alright then, I'll flip a coin to settle if boys or girls will start first. Heads girls, tails, boys" she said, before tossing the coin up.

Every pair of eyes looked at the spinning coin as the first group was decided. The teacher looked at the coin "heads. Alright ladies, line up on the start line. You have to make sure you don't trip the barriers, if you win the race throwing them all on the ground, you are not eligible" More groans could be heard but the teacher ignored them, to look at the group of boys. "You can wait by the bleachers" she said, before turning her attention to the girls who were chatting among themselves.

Adrien and Nino went and sat down on the bleachers, both of them looking at the assorted group of girls as they got in positions. Most of them looked concerned, which was understandable, given the difficulty of the class. The model chanced a look at Marinette, who was standing next to Alya, who was loudly complaining about the unfairness of it all. But Adrien noticed one thing; the look on Marinette's face was carefully blank, though the corner of her lips turned into a small smile, blue eyes twinkling in excitement. _'she likes this'_ he thought, wondering how his supposedly clumsy classmate would fare on this.

A sing song "Staaaaring" in a mock stage whisper by Nino, followed by a laugh, brought him out of his reverie.

"What?" Adrien said, feeling his cheeks heat up with the telling signs of a blush tinged his face. "I was just… uh" the blond rubbed the back of his neck "looking at the circuit…" he trailed off, knowing fully well, he did not fool his friend in the slightest.

"Uh huh" Nino said, "Just saying dude, ask her out or something. You're being _weird_." he added before turning towards the girls who were ready in position, waiting for the teacher to finish giving out the instructions. "Good luck!" he called out to them, causing both Marinette and Alya to turn towards him. The redhead gave him a cheeky grin and a flexed in jest, while Marinette shyly waved in their direction. A still flustered Adrien replied in kind, unable to respond to Nino now that he had called to the girls. Thankfully, the teacher spoke again, saving him from having to give Nino a lengthy explanation on how _it was not like that._

Kind of.

"Alright, ladies. Once your marks…. set…. go!" she said, marking the beginning with a loud blow of her whistle.

The girls took off as fast as they all could, though the first obstacle began showing that not everyone was made for this particular race. Mylene, was obviously struggling, toppling several of the barriers, but carrying on with as much speed as she could. Alix was doing _much_ better, but that was a given, considering that the girl was athletically inclined, though she still didn't manage to get a clean jump over every barrier. Chloe, however, was loudly complaining as she toppled the barriers, with Sabrina right behind, trying to right them up before the teacher noticed. She did not succeed.

"Come on Alya!" The cheery voice of Marinette brought his attention back to the front of the race, where Marinette was surprisingly among the leaders of the group. "You can do it!" she exclaimed as she jumped almost effortlessly over a barrier, a giddy look on her face.

"Alix is a shoe in for this" Nino said, following the two leads "I didn't think Marinette would be so… _fast"_

"They seem to be doing well enough though" Adrien said, watching the girls as they kept going. See, the display before him was nothing out of the ordinary. No one was flying through the circuit, and he had to admit, it actually disappointed him a little bit. If Marinette was his Ladybug, he expected her to zoom through the obstacles with the same ease and grace as she flew above the roofs of Paris. The blue eyed girl was doing well enough, but it was nothing out of the ordinary, and he hated to admit, that made a small pang of disappointment crush his chest. Maybe he had been wrong all along.

It was then that he saw it. Marinette had tripped over one of the barriers, falling down and getting quickly back up. See, this was nothing out of the ordinary, really, it was a difficult course and mistakes were obviously going to be made. It would have been shocking that any of students managed to get through the race without throwing over any of the barriers. However it was the look on her face that caught his eye.

"Oops" Marinette said, a smile on her face as she quickly got up, gracefully sprinting towards the next barrier, which she jumped effortlessly. Adrien looked back at Marinette's track. Sure, there were some barriers knocked down, however there were far less than the rest of the girls. Also, there was a certain… pattern to it all? It was like she got one wrong every four barriers, as if she couldn't make it, though she clearly didn't have trouble jumping. Even the way she fell, it was oddly calculated so that she stood up without much effort or any damage done (and Adrien had seen Marinette trip. It could _certainly_ be a spectacle). But today, even the way she tripped the barriers was contrived… he was pretty sure she had pulled that last one down with her hand as she jumped over it.

An amused smiled appeared on his face as the realization hit. _'She pulling back'_ he thought, noticing how she seemed to alternate graceful jumps with contrived ways she could fall. She could have finished the circuit in way less time than the one allotted by the teacher, maybe even with a perfect score, but she'd chosen not to. Also, the look on her face betrayed just how much fun she was having today. And that smile he could recognize. He'd seen it while running on the roofs of Paris on his superhero companion many, many times.

Another piece of the puzzle was falling into place and that filled him with giddy excitement. Maybe he could up his 70% to a 80%? His Ladybug was very protective of her alter ego, it made complete sense for her to not give herself up by showing her prowess here. Besides, t wasn't like he could do anything with this knowledge just yet. Not while he wasn't completely sure. Also, even if he was, he wasn't quite sure how to approach Marinette with this. Sure, she had relaxed considerably since they'd met, but she still kept on fumbling about whenever he talked to her. This was still something that confused him to no end. He saw flashes of his Ladybug every now and then, but _rarely_ around him, and almost never _directed at_ him.

mm. Suddenly a thought popped up in his mind, _'Maybe it's all part of her façade. Maybe she did know that he was Chat Noir, and didn't know what to do with the knowledge just yet…'_

Adrien turned his attention back to the race, amused as how he could see Marinette purposefully lagging behind when she got too close to Alix. It was clear she didn't want to win this race, even if she could definitely do so. Adrien smiled, before being elbowed by Nino.

"Doing it again…" his friend said, amused brown eyes glancing between the girls and his best friend "but it's not like that right?" he added, an amused look appearing on his face.

Adrien gaped like a fish out of water, there was no way to explain this to Nino, without betraying several secrets that were not his to give "I was just wondering… how we'll do when it's our turn" he said, in a sad attempt to defend himself, fidgeting as he tried to ignore the look on his friend's face.

Finally the first three crossed the line. Alix, Marinette and Alya, though a red faced Chloe was a extremely close place. Alya seemed rightfully exhausted, though she couldn't help but look smug at the disgruntled look on Chloe's face. Marinette looked excited, beaming at her best friend when she realized that were the first three to cross the finish line.

Adrien was doing the best not to stare and turned towards Nino, "Huh. Marinette didn't even break a sweat" his friend pointed out. It was true, while several of the girls were covered in sweat, their faces flushed red due to the effort to finish , Marinette was excitedly walking towards the teacher, side by side with her best friend.

The blond looked at the girls as he walked over to the track, his mind reeling with the possibilities. He caught Marinette's eye and gave her a thumbs up, thoroughly enjoying how the high of her success gave her the burst of confidence enough to smile back at him before realizing what had just happened and blushing nervously. Yes, he had a new reason to win this race now.


	2. Part II Mamihlapinatapei

**Part II. Mamihlapinatapei**

 _a wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start_

* * *

Marinette was not having a good evening. It wasn't anything particular, to tell the truth. And it most certainly wasn't because Chat Noir had yet to contact her for the nightly patrol. And sure, there really wasn't anything going on that they knew of, and sure, Marinette had yet to transform today; but still. He could have called her to tell her he wasn't going out.

Not that she cared. Because she didn't. _At all._

A flash of red flitted before her and Tikki landed on top of her desk, eyeing her charge with a sad look in her eyes "You could call him, you know" the kwami helped, nudging the phone towards Marinette. "Maybe he does have a reason not to go" The small kwami pointed to the girl's school books "Maybe he has homework too"

"Hmm" Marinette said, "Maybe. Probably found a new girl to flirt with" she said, ignoring the weird feeling that sentence put in her stomach. Marinette did the best to put the best blank face she could, knowing Tikki was looking at her intently. "I don't care Tikki. It's better, actually. That way he won't be distracted during patrol. Besides, that way I don't have to worry about letting him down easy."

Tikki's face betrayed just how _little_ she believed that. The kwami had noticed too, how Chat Noir had pulled slightly away from her these past few days. Sure, the banter kept on going, but the flirting had turned down a couple notches. There was clearly something on the other hero's mind.

Of course, Tikki possessed more knowledge about the situation, but she wasn't allowed to share it with Marinette just yet. She still wasn't _completely_ sure who Chat Noir was in real life, but she could _feel_ him, and she just knew that he was close to Marinette's everyday life. She was almost sure that the boy Marinette was hopelessly crushing on was the same superhero who worked alongside her. Granted, this was not something she was allowed to tell. There were things that Marinette _had_ to discover on her own, or else the bond between the superheroes wouldn't be as strong as it needed to be to defeat the Akumas that tormented Paris from time to time, as well as the evil supervillian who kept on sending them.

Marinette stood up and stretched " _WELL_. At least one of us needs to get to work" Tikki nodded, knowing that maybe patrolling would take Marinette's mind off her current dilemma.

"We should go!" the Kwami agreed, finishing the cookie she was munching on, "check if your parents are asleep and let's go!"

Tikki watched as Marinette began peeking through the house, checking for any signs of her parents and sighed. The truth was that Marinette had begun to warm up to her flirty companion; she could feel the warmth radiating from her whenever the two superheroes patrolled together, the playful banter going back and forward between them. Granted, Marinette would only admit to warming up as _friends_ of course. She still only had eyes for Adrien.

So the moment Chat began to pull back on his flirty advances, it was very worrying, and Tikki could definitely feel just how much that unsettled the teenager. But of course, her own stubbornness seemed to win out. Marinette was clearly feeling new things for Chat Noir. She just _refused_ to acknowledge them.

Marinette returned, quietly stepping back into the room. Ah, her parents were deeply asleep. Tikki readied herself for the transformation, surprised when instead of that, Marinette spoke "Have the other Ladybugs and Chat Noirs dated?" the dark haired girl was quick to correct "other people of course. Dating each other would be weird, right?"

 _'_ _Oh Marinette'_ Tikki gave her charge a small look, "It has all happened before" she said "Dating each other, dating other people" Tikki kept to herself the fact that the greatest love stories she'd seen, had been between the superheroes through the time. Even if one sided, that same love was enough to push them beyond the call of duty to make sure they succeeded. But again, that was something Marinette would need to work out on her own.

Marinette couldn't decide whether that answer satisfied her or confused her even more. She knew she wanted to date Adrien, which was never under question, but the concept of Chat dating another girl made her uncomfortable for reasons that had nothing to do with falling for his advances.

It wasn't _jealousy_. She was just… _worried_ for him. Yes. Just worried. Who knew what kind of girl he could find, right? Maybe she was evil and very wrong for him. So much that he wouldn't be able to patrol with her. Paris would suffer.

See? _Not jealousy._

Besides, there was no way one could fall for two people, right? That would be insane… The teenager shook her head, willing that thought right out of her brain. There was no way that was happening. It felt almost… unfaithful. Adrien was perfect for her, and there was no need to look elsewhere.

Sure, Chat had proven time and time again, just how loyal he was. Funny too, even if he could be a little silly from time to time. She had missed the exact moment when those silly advances and eyebrow waggles had stopped annoying her and had started to make her laugh.

And dear God. Just how devoted her kitty could be. The last time he had thrown himself in harm's way for her sake… she really thought she'd lost him.

That time, Chat had fallen to the ground with less grace than usual, his body bouncing off of the ground. She felt the scream she wanted to let out caught in her throat, and she hurried towards her partner, feeling the beginning of tears burning in her eyes as she cradled his face in her hands, calling his name for him to wake up. In the end, Chat's eyes had opened, and he'd flashed her a smile despite the pain he must have been feeling, and repeated to her just how many more lives he had to spare, and just how he wouldn't mind chancing them to keep her safe. And the thing was that he believed him, completely.

The memory made her heart feel tight again, and that wasn't something she needed right now. ' _Stop it Marinette. You're being crazy'_ she thought, before taking a deep breath and shaking her arms, to get rid of her tension that somehow had settled on her shoulders. "Tikki, Transform!"

* * *

The night had gone without a hitch, even if she had been alone so far. The superhero landed with a soft thud on top of the Hotel Duquesne in Paris, giving her the postcard view of the lit up Eiffel Tower and Paris skyline. It had been a very uneventful evening. It seemed that even the knowledge of the two superheroes in Paris was somewhat enough to keep crime at bay. Marinette sat on the ledge, admiring the view she'd seen so many times before "I think we should be heading home soon, right Tikki?" She said to her Kwami, "I think I'm done for the night"

"So soon My Lady?" Ladybug turned around, to find the familiar yet masked face of one Chat Noir walking towards her… looking like the cat that got to the cream. There was a small pang of annoyance that flashed through her, at the idea of just _who_ the cream could have _been_ , (date! date! he was on a date!) but it was quickly pushed down. "Chat!" she said, doing her best to look normal "I didn't think I'd see you tonight"

"And leave my lady on her own? Never!" Chat said, grinning brightly at her. "I just had some things to finish before I could go out tonight" He turned playful green eyes towards the scenery "Although If I'd known that my Lady was all alone in such a romantic setting, I would have definitely have hurried up"

"Ah" Ladybug said, standing up, turning her attention back to the Eiffel tower, hoping that the night hid the small blush that tinged her cheeks. "You didn't have to leave what you were doing, you know. I have it handled" She was the _worst_ and she knew it. She was jealous at whatever or whoever it was that stole his time _from_ her. And the fact that he was flirting again, actually annoyed her even more _. 'Maybe whatever or whoever he was spending time with, didn't work. So he's back…'_ she was distracted from her rather irrational thoughts by Chat's voice _right_ beside her.

"I was trying to get this ready" he said, standing right by her side; his voice soft by her ears as he presented a small black box "did you know that two years ago, today was the first time we teamed up?" The blond paused, before adding "Well, not _today_ , actually yesterday, since it's after midnight. But I couldn't really get to you before" he rambled before adding "There was that Akuma by the…."

"Cannal Saint Martin" she finished for him. There had been an artist that had been turned into an Akuma and had begun freezing people so that they became part of his scenery.

Also, how hadn't she heard him move? He had been at least ten feet away from her when she had turned around. And why had she shuddered when she heard his voice so close to her? This whole thing was getting out of control "I… I didn't get you anything" she said, her blue eyes turning towards him in an apologetic glance, still not touching the box offered.

Chat kept on holding the box for her to take "Open it" he urged "If my lady is happy, it's enough for this cat" he added a mock bow to highlight his point.

Slightly trembling hands took the box from his hands, why was she so nervous right now? Marinette pulled the bow carefully and opened the box "Oh Chat…" she said, breathlessly taking the contents out the box. _How could she had ever doubted her silly cat?_

It was a small necklace, a delicate silver chain with a small charm of a ladybug. It was pretty similar to one she'd seen before, in one of those jewelries in the center of Paris, where the price isn't listed next to the items, so she knew this had cost a pretty amount. The craftmanship was amazing, since the charm was so small and delicate, yet you could easily realize what it was. The ladybug's black dots were small crystals, which gave a small shine under the city lights. "I can't, this is too much!" she began, wordlessly turning around to try and refuse the present.

Her partner held a hand up in the air, shaking his head. He was not taking that present back home. "Did you not like it?" he asked

"It's not that" She said "It's just…"

"Then it's yours" he said, interrupting her before she could say anything more "My lady deserves something as beautiful as she is" Marinette couldn't help but blush at that. Stupid and _stubborn_ Cat. "Can I help you put it on?" he asked, motioning for her to turn around.

She did as asked, wordlessly turning around and holding her hair out of the way, pulling on her ponytails so that they didn't get tangled with the chain. She was also feeling terribly guilty at the fit she'd had earlier today. She had been _jealous_ , as much as she hated to admit it, and knowing that Chat had been MIA lately because he was doing something _for_ her made her heart feel lighter than it had in all this week.

She was also pretty aware of his fingers, brushing against the nape of her neck as they worked the clasp on the necklace. Marinette was probably going insane, but it just felt so… intimate. And she was thankful that his suit covered so much skin, or else he'd realize just how her skin broke into goosebumps at his touch.

"There" Chat said, "all done". Marinette grasped the small ladybug in her fingers, before turning around to face her grinning partner. "It looks better on you than on the box" he quipped "and it's on now, no take backs". The blond grabbed the leather belt that built up the tail of the suit, swinging it around a little as he playfully added "But should the lady want to thank me in another way" he added, wagging his eyebrows playfully at Ladybug.

Marinette didn't think much about it, and just wrapped her arms around his waist. "Thank you" she said, to a very surprised Chat Noir. He had no idea, just how _much_ she had needed this today. Even if this did nothing to clarify the conflicting feelings in her heart, she felt so much lighter right now. She had needed this reasurance. Maybe it was time to admit she might have been falling for the silly cat, in spite of everything she kept on telling herself.

How he'd managed to do so? No idea. It was definitely his fault. He'd managed to put a crack on the walls she kept putting between them.

Chat had not foreseen this turn of events. _Jokes_ , he had expected; a _refusal_? Also among the possibilities; a playful thank you? Completely. Having his Lady hugging him, her arms wrapping around his waist and her head resting on him? Nope. Not at all. In fact, it took him a couple of seconds to react to her, and finally wrap his arms around her as well "All the thanks I need my lady" he said, a small goofy smile appearing on his face.

Marinette pulled back from the embrace, letting her arms slide slowly from their position as she stepped back. "Was this why you were acting all weird this week?" She asked him, tilting her head up at him.

"I wasn't sure it'd get here in time" he said, flashing a bashful grin in her direction, "So I started annoying the post office to make sure it was here on time."

She snorted. S _tupid, stupid kitty_. She could picture him hounding the workers to make sure that his delivery got there on time. "You didn't have to, you know"

"I know. I _wanted_ to" he said, his fingers playing with the ends of his hair absentmindedly as his other hand reached to hold on to her hand, which had just let him go. He held to her hand, the two of them falling into a silence, as they looked at each other, wondering if the other was going to say anything.

This was it. The chance that Chat had waited. She was there, and she wasn't pushing him away. Maybe it was the time to talk about everything, he should confess, and tell her that he was (80%) sure of who she was. But the words failed him. Her eyes were burning into him, expectantly, as if waiting for something.

The air between them was electric, heavy with expectations and hope. The hand that was playing with her hair slid softly, hesitantly to touch the side of her face. He could kiss her right now. He just needed to move forward the inches that separated him from her and he could kiss her. She wasn't moving away and her eyes were following each movement he made.

Blue eyes flickered between green eyes and his lips, then to their joined hands. Marinette's heart was beating so fast and loud she wouldn't have been surprised that he could hear it as well. She was under a spell tonight, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to break it just yet. What if she took a chance tonight? Maybe… just maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing. It would be so easy to close the distance…

But then, since black cats have _terrible_ luck, a loud beeping coming from his hand, broke the spell, the moment shattering as if made of crystal.

"Your ring" Marinette said, letting go of his hand and taking a small step back. His transformation was about to wear off, and hers wasn't going to be far behind. "I… I need to go back" she said, her hand reaching to her yo-yo and "I'll see you tomorrow!" she said, sprinting away in a hurry.

Her mind was racing as she swung over Paris, just now feeling the beep announcing that her transformation was about to wear off. But she was close to home, so that wasn't the main issue right now. She _would_ have let him kiss her. She _wanted_ him to. Her only experience with kissing had happened after the black cupid arrows had hit Chat Noir and she _had_ to kiss him to lift the spell. But now, she _wanted_ him to kiss her, just because. "Oh God Tikki, what am I doing here?" she said, once in the safety of her own room, transformation off and with her Kwami doing her best to calm the flailing teenager.

She was out of control. _Really_.

* * *

Chat watched as Ladybug swung away from building to building, and dejectedly walked towards a good hiding place to turn back. Soon enough, he was Adrien Agreste again, eyeing as Plagg tumbled right out of his ring. The blond sighed, "Couldn't hold it for another minute?" He asked Plagg, giving the Kwami a resigned look.

"I was just really hungry" The tiny cat offered, having the grace to look apologetic, before diving for the piece of cheese that Adrien held for him. "At least she didn't reject you" he offered.

Plagg had a point, Adrien realized; all in all, today was a victory. He was almost sure that she wanted him to kiss her today. But… despite how much he wanted to kiss her; he was aware of who he'd be kissing. He wanted her to kiss the full person he was, both Chat and Adrien.

He was _hopeless_.

* * *

Adrien was fidgeting. He had barely slept last night, but he didn't really feel tired. He was anxious. He had already decided that he was 80% sure that Marinette was Ladybug, and he'd almost kissed her last night. It was a development for sure.

So when Marinette entered the classroom, Adrien couldn't help but risk a glance to her neck, trying to see if he could find the glinting signs of the present he'd offered ladybug. Much to his disappointment, her neck was bare. Well. Maybe she didn't want to wear it as Marinette, after all, it had been a present for _ladybug._

Still. He was a bit disappointed. She seemed to like it so much, that he had expected to see it today.

Then, as Adrien left the library, holding a bunch of books he needed for homework, he saw it. Marinette was sitting with Alya in the table in front of them, chatting quietly among themselves, as they worked on a report. Suddenly, the girl stretched her arms above her head, causing the sleeves of her jacket to ride back a little bit, exposing a small black bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet was made of braided cloth, which wasn't out of the ordinary, but Adrien was able to catch the glint of silver between the braids, and the small crystals that made up the black dots on the ladybug caught the light pleasantly.

She'd braided the necklace into _another_ accessory to wear more inconspicuously! The surprise made him trip onto Nino, who was walking slightly ahead of him, and drop his books on the ground. " _Duuude_ " his friend said, rubbing the back of his arms, where one of the books had hit him.

"Sorry, I tripped" Adrien said, quickly crouching to begin gathering his books.

His friend gave him a _'look'_ and helped him pick up his things, before realizing that both Alya and Marinette were in the near vicinity. _Of course._ "Dude. We're really going to need to talk about this" he said, brown eyes flashing quickly to where the girls were curiously looking at them now. "Or…"

"SHH" the librarian saved Adrien from whatever it was Nino was going to say, and the pair of friends left the library in a hurry to avoid being scolded.


	3. Part III Something Right

**Part III. Something Right.**

Marinette was in bed. Blue eyes opened wide as she stared at the ceiling. _ohmygod, ohmygod_. What was wrong with her? Was she really that fickle? Her hand rose to her neck, touching the charm attached to the silver chain. The teenager walked towards her mirror, looking at how the necklace looked on Marinette.

It was really an adorable present, but since Marinette rarely wore necklaces (or that much jewelry, to tell the truth), it stood out far too much for her to just wear it around. Sighing, she reached behind and carefully took it off.

The ladybug twinkled, as it dangled from the chain, and her lips quirked in a small smile, feeling the telling heat on her cheeks. But it had to be done, Marinette opened a small box on her nightstand and carefully placed the necklace there, before going to bed.

There. Solved. She would take care of the necklace, but she couldn't wear it in public. Marinette closed her eyes, but she could feel the necklace presence right beside her. She tried to sleep, closing her eyes forcefully but to no avail. After a while, she simply groaned and sat up on the bed.

Time for a new plan. She took out the necklace and walked over to the desk in her room. "Something has to work here" she muttered, eyeing the designs she had, before her eyes fell on a single abandoned bracelet on her desk. Yeees, that would do.

* * *

The bad part about finishing her bracelet last night, was that she was pretty much dead on her feet today. _Why did she do this to herself?_ "We need to go earlier than usual" she told Tikki, gathering her books and shoving them into her bag "I need coffee, and my parents won't let me have it as strong as I need it" she yawned.

She then picked up the bracelet and tied it to her wrist. There. No one would be the wiser now. The dark haired girl touched the charm, looking it a couple of times, before tucking it inside the braid.

"Well, he IS cute, you know?" Tikki offered, flitting around the girl's wrist. The Kwami had to admit it, the bracelet had been a genius idea, "and he clearly cares about you. Would it really be the worst thing int he world to like him back?"

A strangled noise left Marinette's mouth, it was far too early for all of this, and she was too sleepy to deal with all the conflicting thoughts right now. "But what does that make me Tikki? I mean, I still like Adrien, would it be fair to anyone that I'd kissed Chat last night? They don't deserve this" The girl rubbed her face tiredly. "I feel like the worst person in the world" she finished, shoulders slumped.

Tikki approached Marinette "That's not true!" she exclaimed, nuzzling her softly. "You're just confused Marinette. But don't worry, I know you'll make the right decision." Marinette sighed, giving a hopeful little shrug, before opening her purse, putting some cookies inside and allowing Tikki to get settled in.

* * *

Now, Adrien had decided what he wanted to do. He needed to try and make Marinette connect the dots between him and Chat Noir. Now, there was clearly a small part of him that was downright terrified that she wouldn't like him as a whole. Both Chat _and_ Adrien. And God, he needed someone who was able to see the whole of him… someone he didn't have to hide from.

So. Basically? The plan was help Marinette connect the dots. And that was as far as he'd gotten today. Make Marinette realize the truth. Other than that? The page was blank. He was pretty sure that if he came up to her and said _'Hey Ladybug, it's me, Chat Noir'_ , the girl might just drop dead.

A thing he hadn't accounted in today's plan? Marinette was actively avoiding him. While his shy classmate was never really forward, she would at least try and talk to him. Today, other than waving hello outside of school as she walked by with Alya, he had barely gotten to interact with her.

This wouldn't do.

"I will ask her out for you if you don't do it yourself…" threatened Nino, "What's wrong? You're even more distracted than usual" Which, considering Adrien's latest venture in Marinette watching… _was a feat_.

"Is it just me, or is Marinette being weird today?" he asked, no point in hiding the main issue of his problems today. "I think she's avoiding us"

Us. Just Adrien. _Whatever_.

Nino looked at where Marinette was standing with a confused Alya, doing an active effort not to look in their direction. The boy gave Alya a confused look, glancing quickly between the nervous Marinette and the befuddled Adrien.

This was all the incentive Alya needed, before grabbing Marinette's arm and dragging her to the nearby girl's bathroom. Marinette, of course, squeaked at the sudden pull, but allowed herself to be dragged, covering her face with her free hand as Alya pointed out "Girl, your arms are really strong, how did that happen?" before the door swung close and the boys were left outside of the conversation.

* * *

Once inside the bathroom, Alya cornered her friend "Come on now, spill. What happened?"

"What? Alya? No.. uh… nothing happened, really." Marinette attempted to defend herself. "I uh… just had a late night." That much was true. She did need to catch up on some sleep. "I'm just… tired"

Alya's eyes narrowed, carefully looking at her best friend, before stepping away and checking the bathroom for any eavesdroppers, opening each stall to make sure they were alone. Once she was satisfied, she turned back to Marinette "Do I need to kill him?" She asked "Because I **will**. Famous or not, I will break him in two if he did something to hurt you"

The first answer Alya could get was the blank look on Marinette's face. "What? Who?" She meant _Adrien_ "Adrien?" She said, loudly shushing her friend, looking nervously around "He hasn't done anything!" she flailed, "That's not it!"

"Then why are you ignoring him like he kicked your pet puppy?" Alya asked, tilting her head, thoroughly confused by the turn of events. Adrien was clearly noticing Marinette lately. There were plenty good developments in that area, which should clearly make his friend happy.

Kicked a puppy, for crying out loud. (Kitty maybe. _Figuratively_ speaking though). "You know he'd _never_ do something like that!" she said, frantically looking around, because she was just sure that Chloe would have popped up out of nowhere to mock her. The Blonde just had those kind of powers.

Thankfully, luck was on her side right now. Marinette closed her eyes and slumped against the wall. "I have to tell you something." she said, wondering how she was going to make this story work, without giving up her secret identity. She just _really_ needed her best friend right now, even if this situation overlapped into her alter ego's life. "I'm really confused Alya, it's terrible!"

"Confused about…?" Alya began, tilting her head at her friend "Do you not like Adrien anymore?" That would have been downright _shocking_. Her friend drooled over the blond boy, and such a sudden change without Adrien having done anything wrong… "WHO IS HE?" Alya cried, brown eyes widening comically behind her glasses. _Who could it be?_ "Is it Nathanaël?" she asked, remembering how the boy had been pining over Marinette awhile ago, "Because I'm pretty sure he's more of a Ladybug fan now…" Alya had seen the sketches. She'd even featured some of them on her blog!

Marinette covered her face with her hands, throughly mortified. "It's not him…" she said "He's… uh… not from school" she said. Well as far as she knew, he wasn't; so that was not a lie.

"Aaand, what happened?" Alya pressed, thoroughly invested in the story now. Whoever it was, he had enough _Mojo_ to distract the hopelessly infatuated Marinette from boy wonder outside… well, he most certainly had Alya's respect, whoever he was.

The bathroom door opened, causing Marinette's eyes to widen in panic and Alya say "Sorry, out of service for now!" she gave her best apologetic look to the poor girl as she pushed the door closed. "Alright. Where were we? Spill."

The blue eyed girl paused… how could she explain this in a way that sort of made sense to Alya? "Uh…" she began, her hands fidgeting nervously. "We kind of spent time together last night…" she trailed off, fully aware that her story was not detailed enough for her best friend "We… almost kissed?" she said, her voice lowering up to a whisper at the end as she winced, in preparation for her best friend's reaction.

It was the right choice. "YOU WHAT?!" Alya cried "so you're telling me now that you had a date?! And I didn't know!"

Marinette flailed, in hopeless attempt to quiet down her friend. "It wasn't like that!" she said "It just sort of happened!" she explained, a hopeless look taking over her pretty face.

"Alright. So that happened. Shouldn't you be all cool and that around Adrien now?"

"It's not like that!" Marinette said "I… still like him, and everything had been… so great at school now, that I thought that he actually saw me now, and now this happened, and I feel like worst person in the world…" the girl slumped dramatically against the wall, her head hitting it with a soft thud. "I mean, how fickle do you have to be?"

"I see." Alya said, "And how do you plan to solve this problem?"

"I don't know…"

"Ok. Here's what I think" Alya said, holding one finger up "first, you're not dating Adrien, because both of you act like sloths when it comes to interacting with each other, so you shouldn't feel bad because you met someone else. His loss." A second finger was held, as Marinette listened attentively "Second, if you like this new guy, maybe you should give it a shot. ah ah ah… not done yet!" Alya waved her friend off, who seemed determined to interrupt her. "You can like two people at the same time. It's completely normal." Honestly, Marinette was amazing at making problems so much worse than what they needed to be. "And third, if you think you like both of them, then you need to spend time with them and figure out who like best. Problem solved!"

"It's not that easy Alya…"

The redheaded girl was looking at her phone, tapping furiously and scrolling through something Marinette couldn't see. Once she had seemingly found it, she turned to Marinette and gave her a serious look "Marinette. You're my best friend. Do you trust me?"

Marinette stuttered, this seemed awfully serious "Of course I do… why?"

"Promise that you'll play along, and whatever you do. don't. freak. out." she said, dragging her friend outside of the bathroom, just as the bell rang, signaling the time to head to their next class.

"Uhh" Marinette had a very weird feeling about this, but she simply nodded her agreement and then followed her friend to class"

* * *

Outside of the bathroom both Nino and Adrien were standing with similar looks on their face. Pure, unaltered bafflement. "I think" Nino said, turning back to Adrien, as Alya's voice shrieked words neither of them could make out and the poor student was dispatched to another bathroom "We should give them some privacy". Adrien nodded wordlessly, his green eyes glancing at the closed door with a curious look on his face.

 _Girls were weird._

* * *

The boys were already settled in their seats when the girls arrived. Thankfully, the teacher had yet to arrive, so they were on time. A beep turned her attention to her phone, brown eyes checking out the screen carefully before a proud smile took over her face. _'Good'_ Alya thought. _Time for her plan…_

"Hey Nino!" the girl said, cheerily greeting her classmate (for the second time that day) "so, you know that new paranormal activity movie that came out?"

"Yeah" Nino said, not quite sure what the bespectacled girl was up to just yet. "I still haven't seen it, so no spoilers!" he warned.

Alya waved him off, before continuing. "So, turns out that my mom has a couple of tickets left out that expire today" she said "you know, hotels have those to give to guests if they're angry…that whole hospitality thing, you know" She waved her hand, dismissing the idea as completely understood.

That was only a _technical_ lie. She had texted her mother, begging her to buy the tickets online and to send her the voucher. Which she had, just before she'd started this whole conversation, with the added question that she expected _details_ once Alya got home.

Marinette had begun to catch on Alya's plan, but was currently far too mortified to say anything about it. Adrien, was tuning into the conversation, eyeing the redheaded girl with a curious expression, before Alya spoke up again. "So anyway" Alya continued, "do you guys want to join us?" she asked, turning to both Nino and Adrien with the most innocent look she could muster on her face. "Today, six?" She said, giving Nino the most meaningful look she could, hoping that he caught her drift and would go along with it.

Considering just how interested Nino in Adrien not being a creepy zombie anymore, he was _all in_ for Alya's plan. "That sounds great!" he said, fist bumping Alya before turning to Adrien "I'm in? Can you make it?" he asked the blond boy.

"Yeah" he said, chancing a glance to a still petrified Marinette, just as the teacher finally made it to the classroom. "We can go get something to eat after" he said, feeling rather proud that he got a small smile and nod out of Marinette.

Alright, it seemed that Adrien would have a chance to work his plan sooner than he thought.

* * *

Once the boys had turned back to their seats, Marinette got out a small scrap of paper, and she furiously scribbled, before carefuly sliding it over to her best friend. Alya sighed and wrote back, eyeing the teacher before sliding the note back to her friend.

 _what was THAT?_

 _'_ _That's how you'll get to know if adrien him, is still the one you like. If not? you know that the other one who must not be named is the one._

 _I hate you'_

 _You love me. You'll thank me later ;)_

The paper went back and forwards a couple of minutes, until Marinette was able to function normally. _Somewhat_. At least she didn't feel like smashing her face on her desk until she passed out, and was forced to miss the double date.

Oh my goodness. _They had a double date._ And she had wanted to kiss Chat just last night. Clearly she was out of control. Marinette had no idea how she was going to survive this afternoon without spontaneously combusting or something along those lines.

* * *

The good thing about going to the movies was that one didn't have to talk to the people next to you during it.

Of course, if you asked Marinette, besides from the fact that the movie had been about ghosts, possessions and all that scary stuff, she had absolutely no real idea what it was about. Sure, she had jumped at the appropriated moments, since jump scares didn't require her paying actual attention to the plot; but there was something even more important going on here: Adrien's knee kept on _brushing along hers_. Also, their fingers kept on bumping as they shared popcorn; since Alya was too busy sharing with Nino on her other side.

Spontaneous combustion seemed like a _real_ possibility. Marinette had never been more thankful that movie theaters were dark places, or else everyone else would have noticed that her face was hot enough to melt the artic.

Soon enough, the movie was over and the group of teenagers left the theater. "There's an arcade nearby" Nino said "We can play games and get something to eat over there" Sure enough, they all agreed and they headed to the place.

"It's kind of packed" Alya mentioned, the moment they stepped through the door. "How about this, We'll" she said, nodding towards Nino "go save a table for us. You two, go get us credits so we can play" With that, the two disappeared towards the tables, leaving Adrien alone with Marinette.

Marinette was going to _murder_ Alya. No one could blame her, no one would ever toss her in jail. She had saved Paris _far_ too many times… she deserved a _freebie_. This was the most evident set up in the history of set ups.

"Alright then" Adrien said, looking at their friends as they disappeared between the crowd. Sure, their intentions were good, but the execution lacked… _subtlety_. He then turned to Marinette, flashing her a friendly smile and "shall we then?" he said, mock curtseying as he followed her towards the games area.

"Ooh! they have prizes!" Marinette pointed out, looking at the assorted cheap trinkets that adorned the shelves. They ranged between hair ties to gigantic plushies.

"Cool!" he said, looking at the prizes. "How do you win them?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck, flashing the blue eyed girl a shy smile.

 _Right_. Adrien had been homeschooled, and he had just began going to school with more people his age. Chances were that he wasn't taken to places like this on his spare time when he was younger. But instead of remarking on that, Marinette decided that she would simply explain along. "You have to play the games with that logo on them" she pointed at a sticker on the wall "and get enough tickets to earn them"

Adrien nodded, looking at the rather high ticket-prices of the bigger prizes. How hard could it be, right? "Come on then!" he said, turning to the cashier "Four cards, please" he said, slliding the money on the tray.

"Adrien don't!" Marinette complained "you bought the food at the movies!" It didn't feel right for him to pay for this also.

"It's not a big deal" he said, "my treat"

"But…"

"Come on Marinette" Adrien said, flashing his most confident smile. "let me treat you this time" He paused and added. "You can pick what we play"

What we play? Marinette paused, a small blush tinging her cheeks. That made it sound as if they would be playing … _oh heavens, Adrien wanted to spend his time here with her_. This afternoon was going to be the death of her.

"Ah.. Alright, I guess" she said, fidgeting a little. Adrien flashed her a bright smile, and while Marinette's face flushed red, she began thinking that maybe, this hadn't been such a bad idea. She waited for Adrien to purchase the credits, looking at the prizes before she heard his voice by her ear, startling her out of her daydreaming.

"Alright my lady" he said, before offering his arm for her to take, doing his best to keep his smile as charming as possible. Oh, Adrien knew _exactly_ what he was doing, and he couldn't help but feel ridiculously proud of it. Marinette was startled for a second, and maybe treating her like he liked to treat his lady was a good way to help her guide her to the missing pieces of the puzzle. "What game shall we play first?" He looked around, recognizing only some of the games "What is that?"

Marinette turned around, looking at a tall machine surrounded by light bulbs "Oh, that is like jumping rope, you just need to jump whenever the light is by your feet?" She tilted her head at him "Do you want to try that one first"

"Ladies' choice" Adrien replied, though the curiosity in his eyes betrayed that he wanted to try that one first.

"Let's go then" Marinette said. Then, they were standing in front of the machine, checking the instructions. "alright, each turn is one and a half minutes" She loaded the credits inside, and turned towards Adrien, ready to ask him if he wanted to go first, just as he said

"It's starting" the blond pointed out.

The blue eyed girl squeaked, turning towards the machine and hopping to make the first jump. Guess it was her turn first. "Oh!" She squeaked, hopping carefully as the game begun marking up her score "Oh God I hope I won't fall" she muttered, not quite aware that she was in fact speaking out loud.

"Don't worry," Adrien said, leaning against the side of the machine "I'll catch you." He said, adding a wink for good measure. Which was a very suave move in his opinion, if only he could control the blush that he could just feel was tinging his face. How come this didn't happen when he was Chat?

It seemed that the mask did help from time to time.

That did her in. Clearly it seemed that Adrien still had it in him to make her absolutely speechless. Marinette's only reply was a squeak as she kept on jumping. Where the hell was Alya? She needed rescue right now. Someone needed to save her, she was going to die.

 _What was her life?_

* * *

After a while, Nino and Alya had caught up with them, and among the four of them, they'd gathered a decent amount of tickets. They all sat on the table, surrounded by their drinks, fries and burgers. The ridiculous amount of tickets they had gathered was off to the side, waiting for them to finish eating to finally count it down; Right now it was time to munch on some junk food.

After the experience today, Marinette had reverted to her previous quietness. There was just so much in her head, that there was barely enough attention left for her to interact with the three people in front of her. Adrien had been… _flirty_. And that was not something Marinette was ever used to. The blond boy was usually nice to her, yes; but the whole _winking_ thing was… not something she could have ever prepared for.

Thankfully, Alya and Nino had joined them before Marinette could successfully combust; and with them present, Adrien dialed back on the flirting. Though he still kept fairly close to her; much to Alya's and Nino's disbelief.

For Adrien, the knowledge he held was a confidence booster. He could see how the blue eyed girl reacted to him with surprise and curiosity and he decided he would take it as a _good_ sign. Granted, he wasn't sure how Marinette would react once she knew, but he knew that he wanted her to cross that line and see just who he was. He was also quite impatient, which would account for the amount of times Marinette had squeaked in his presence today.

Right now the blue eyed girl was quietly munching on some fries; same as he was; and as she moved her hand to get more fries, he could see the hint of the charm, dangling delicately from between the thick threads of the bracelet. Adrien would have to admit, the rush that seeing her wear it had yet to pass. To tell the truth, it actually gave him confidence in this crazy plan of his to ' _woo' the girl._ As badly planned as this whole thing was, he was at least _trying_ , and she seemed to warm up to him well enough.

Sure, she was still awkward around his civilian self, but other than squeak at his completely suave attempts at flirting, she had yet to run away, or tell him to stop.

He would take that as a victory.

"Heeey!" Alya's voice distracted him (and apparently Marinette as well) from their daydreaming. "That's new" The girl reached for Marinette's hand, "ooh, how cute!"

Marinette looked flustered, as she tried her best to hide the accessory from Alya "Oh. It was just lying there" she lied, her cheeks blushing slightly, doing her best to pull her arm back without fully snatching it out of Alya's grasp.

"Oh, there's something there" Alya added, poking at the threads, as the hints of the charm peeked from between the threads"

Ok. So this, Marinette would not be able to explain "Oh, really? I hadn't seen that" she lied, nimble fingers pushing the charm safely inside the threads. "We should count the tickets!" she said, hoping to distract the group with the promise of prizes.

"Oh right!" Alya said, grabbing a bunch of tickets and separating them in four. "Here you go" she said, placing a small amount of them in front of each "Now count!"

They finished counting soon enough, and by then, most of their food had disappeared from the table "Alright" Nino announced, looking up from the napkin he was writing on to add all the numbers "final countdown… 2198" The boy turned his eyes towards his friends. "I'd say that's a great haul. We should see what we could get with this"

It was then that they heard a loud crash.

Both Adrien and Marinette perked up immediately. _'Oh come on, not today'_ was the thought in both their heads as an Akuma's cackles boomed loudly as people ran. His body was strong, almost covered in what seemed the outer shell of classic arcade games, giving him a robotic appearance. His power seemed to be turning people into mindless drones, who… semeed intent on trashing the whole place. Yikes.

"I am Wreckage!" The akuma said, "You will all join my level"

 _Of course._

The foursome looked at the direction of the akuma and his quickly forming army. "Alya no!" Marinette said, quickly grabbing her friend's cellphone, before the redheaded decided to get in harm's way to get the first look at Ladybug and Chat noir.

She needed to transform _now_.

Unfortunately, her voice had alerted the Akuma of their presence and he turned towards them with an evil glint in his red eyes. Of course, he aimed at them, and they were saved only by Adrien's quick reflexes at upturning their table so that it didn't hit any of them.

"We need to get out of here" Adrien said, and all friends nodded, now crouching behind their make shift refuge. "The emergency exit is right over there" It was not far away, thankfully, and the Akuma didn't seem to move very fast, so if they moved fast enough, they could make it. "Are you ready?"

He needed to shake them so he could transform as well, there wasn't enough he could do as Adrien. Same with Marinette, she needed some privacy _soon_. But first, they had to get them out of there. The Akuma's minions were turning the place into disaster zone, so it wouldn't be long until they found them. "Alright, now!" The group ran towards the exit, but once they pushed the emergency door open, an alarm rang out, catching the attention of not only the Akuma, but its possessed minions.

"GET THEM!" said the booming voice, and the possessed civilians left what they were doing to head on towards the group.

"Run!" Marinette said, shoving her friends through the door, panicked looking for a private spot to transform. Soon enough the minions had caught up with them, forcing them to run outside. It was then when Marinette noticed "Adrien!" she said, looking frantically around once she realized that only Alya and Nino had made it outside with her.

* * *

What she had missed inside, was that Adrien had caught sight of a supply closet, and once everything seemed to take a turn for the worse, he had launched himself at it. He didn't think much of it, one of them had to be in their superhero shape if they wanted to make it out of it. He launched inside of it "Plagg, now!" he said, swiftly beginning his transformation.

Outside, a very determined Marinette had gone right back into the building, what if something had happened to Adrien? She couldn't forgive herself! And had just opened her purse to let Tikki out, when Chat Noir landed in front of her.

"Chat Noir" she exclaimed, hating the blush that had appeared on her face once she saw him, just as she snapped her purse closed once again. She couldn't give out her identity. "I uh…" she stuttered, hiding her hands behind her back as she tried to find a way to explain her presence back in the building.

"It's not really safe here, Princess" he told her, "follow me!" he took a hold of her hand and lead her to another part of the building.

Guh. Marinette's shoulder slumped, but allowed herself to be dragged anyway. She needed privacy! And she couldn't transform while Chat was _right there._ The blond hero led her to a back room that had yet to be trashed by the Akuma.

"There my lady!" he said, tipping an imaginary hat in her direction. "Wouldn't want you to get hurt" he winked in her direction.

Marinette was annoyed now. Not only had he prevented her from transformation, but he was _flirting_ with her? After that _moment_ with ladybug just last night? _How dare he!?_ She battled the hurt that crushed her at the moment, choosing annoyance as a way to deal with her feelings. Mainly because now was _definitely not the time for this._ "Why are you such a flirt?" She asked him, blue eyes narrowing at the superhero, hands on her hips as she glared "How many girls do you flirt like this with?" Honestly, how could anyone trust _anything_ the stupid, stupid cat said?

Chat grinned. "Just the one" he said, leaning forward to grab her hand, placing a kiss on her bare hand, which only elicited a small huff out of the girl. But before she complained, Chat grinned up at her, his finger playing with the small ladybug dangling from her bracelet and winked at her, before running off.

Well, he had to give her the privacy she needed.

Marinette stood there, blue eyes opened wide for what seemed far too long and mouth comically agape. 'What had just happened? _Chat…. the charm….'_

 _Craaaaap_.

"Marinette, we need to transform now!" Tikki's voice awoke her from the beginning of a panic attack. "Chat can hold him off for a while, but you need to destroy the akuma!"

"Right!" the girl shook her head, it was not the time for that. "Tikki, transform"

She needed to save the day before she could _kill that cat._

Alright. Ladybug could enter the scene _aaaany_ second now. He had managed to dodge the beam rays that the Akuma shot at him, but he was sort of getting tired of being flung around by the minions. There were going to be some bruises tomorrow…

Besides, he needed her lucky charm and cleansing light to be able to really defeat this akuma.

"Not so fast Wreckage!" That very familiar voice of Ladybug made Chat's shoulders relax slightly. Phew. "We're here to stop you! You will not destroy our city!"

The girl jumped and dove, dodging the beams that the Akuma shot at her, before landing next to Chat, both heroes hiding behind a turned table. "Do you know where the akuma is?" she asked the blond hero.

"I think it's the gun" He said "It looks just like the ones from the games. Also, I think that the games are important to him. He doesn't leave that area" he added, pointing to where all the games are.

Blue eyes glanced at the gun. He did seem to have a point. Maybe he got his energy from being close of the functioning arcades. "And the minions?"

"Most of them locked inside the kitchen." A loud crash coming from that direction proved his point "I don't think it's going to hold too long" cue a mountain of dishes crashing on the ground.

"right" she said, "we should probably get this done soon" she also wanted to make sure Adrien was alright. "Can you distract him for a bit so I can conjure up Lucky Charm?" She asked him.

"Of course my Lady" Chat said, winking as he hopped on top of some tables "Hey!" he said, throwing some empty napkin cases and condiments at the large Akuma. "Over here!"

Ladybug gave him a small look. Subtlety had never been one of her Chat's qualities. One of Chat's qualities. Not _her_ Chat. Just… _Chat_.

 _Gah_.

"Lucky Charm!" Marinette called out, before eyeing at the object in her hands…. What? A water bomb? This was a _toy_. What was she supposed to do with this? Quickly she began looking around, looking for the telling spots marked up that would help her strategize better.

Yo-yo, panel, gun.

OH. She got it now. She needed to turn the power out, so that the arcade games would die out, probably _(hopefully?)_ weakening Wreckage long enough to take his gun.

IT was then that she heard a loud crash and turned just as Chat flew across the room, crashing against the remains of a shelf, slamming his head rather hard against the wall. "Chat!" she cried out "Are you ok?"

The boy spit on the ground, wiping his face with his sleeve, removing what seemed to be blood. "I'm alright my Lady" he said, though it was clear that standing upright was a bit of a task now.

Oh no. No one would hurt her kitty. Ladybug took a running start, jumping on one of the Akuma's sturdy legs to propel herself towards the power box, launching the bomb straight at it. Thankfully she managed to hit, and the water was enough to cause a short circuit that turned off the games that surrounded the Akuma.

"M… Lady! The Gun!" Chat called out, supporting his weight against a shelf. Nothing seemed broken, but it seemed that he had at least bruised a rib.

Ladybug landed gracefully on the floor, launching her yoyo to take the gun from the now weak Wreckage. "I'll take that, thank you very much" and once the gun was in her grasp, she broke the toy over her knee, releasing a black butterfly.

Once the butterfly was cleansed, Ladybug ran towards Chat, who was holding his hand up, ready for their characteristic fist bump after every successful fight. Instead, she carefully grasping his face in her hand, inspecting the damage. "You got hurt" she said, eyeing the cut right below his lower lip.

"Aw. My Lady cares" Chat joked, flashing her a sassy smile, before wincing. Moving his face hurt.

She rolled her eyes, and swatted lightly at him. _Way to ruin the moment._ "Don't push it" she said, before her eyes widened at Chat's wince "Oh my God, what's wrong?"

"Ah, nothing a little rest won't take care of, Princess" he said, grinning at her, before his ring began beeping again _. 'Really Plagg? really?'_ "But it seems I have to cut this meeting short this time" He stepped upright and did his best to walk away, though it was clear to her that he favored his right side.

"Chat…" she began, but was quickly interrupted by him.

"My lady, don't worry about your chat" he said, winking at her. "You'll see me soon enough." With that, he disappeared through a door and she was all alone inside, the beeping of her earrings alerted her that she didn't have that much time either. And she still had to find Adrien. But it seemed that it was a job for Marinette, since her transformation wouldn't hold that much longer.

Ladybug ran towards a supply closet and transformed back. She emerged from the closet and called out a cautious "Adrien?" she looked around, "Are you alright?"

The blond boy emerged from another room, wincing slightly at every step. "Marinette? What are you doing here?" he asked, knowing fully well that he should have gone home, but not wanting to worry the girl and his friends.

"You weren't outside…" she began, fidgeting shyly. "I was… uh… worried"

"Yeah." Adrien attempted to run his hand through his hair, but the movement was more than he could handle at this moment, so he winced. "I was… delayed. Someone pushed me into some furniture… so…"

Marinette's eyes widened "you're hurt!" she said, stepping closer to examine him.

Now, it was Adrien's turn to stutter. Because while he had been trying to push parts of his superhero persona into his civilian life, he had never had Marinette so close to him; other than last night. But that was while both of them had their transformations on. Everything was just so much simpler then.

Her hands touched his face lightly, and while this was a replica of what had just happened between Chat and Ladybug last night, but feeling her actual fingertips were enough to render him speechless. "Uh" he began, flushing at their closeness "It's just a scratch, it'll heal soon"

If Marinette could have had eyes on Tikki, she could have seen the sweet Kwami roll her eyes and face palm inside of Marinette's purse. Honestly, for a girl this smart, Marinette could be really, _really_ oblivious from time to time.

It was then that Alya and Nino burst through the door "ARE YOU OKAY?" Alya's worry lasted as much as it took her to make sure that both of their friends were ok. It was then that her journalist side took over "I missed them, didn't I?"

"Uh… yeah" Marinette said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I… em… I just heard them. I was locked in there," she pointed at the door where she had just de-transformed.

"I… never made it outside, I got shoved around there" he said, pointed to a random spot in the restaurant. His cellphone begun ringing "Hold on a sec" he said, before stepping a couple of feet away to speak on his phone.

That was not where he pointed out before… Marinette said nothing though, maybe he was concussed or something. "Well, today was an adventure, right?" she said, to Nino and Alya. "You guys didn't see anything? I can't believe I missed the chance to see Ladybug again!" she lamented, doing her best to make it sound as honest as she possibly could.

A couple of feet away, Adrien chatted on the phone, though the group only heard half the conversation. "What? But it's safe now" he said, sighing "yes…. fine. Let me know when you arrive"

A now dejected Adrien walked back towards the group. "I think I have to go home now" he said, his green eyes disappointed as he gave the news "they're sending the car to pick me up" On one side, he was disappointed at having to cut the evening short, on the other side, he really wasn't sure if he'd be up for walking back home. His side was killing him right now.

Collective sounds of disappointment left the three other teens, "dude, you should get that looked at" Nino said, eyeing the cut on the blond's face.

"Yeah… I'll get that checked out at home" Adrien said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Nino, we should see if we can find the tickets." Alya said, and quickly dragged Nino towards the table they had shared before all hell broke lose.

So once more, Adrien and Marinette were left alone. The two teens looked at each other shyly, before Marinette broke the silence "You should put some peroxide on it, and some…"

"I had a lot of fun today" Adrien interrupted, before Marinette could finish her thought, and speaking before he could fully plan ahead what he was saying.

"oh…" Marinette blushed harder than before "I had fun too". The dark haired girl began fidgeting in front of him, biting her lower lip nervously.

They fell into another silence, both teens attempting to control their nervousness, but unfortunately, his cellphone beeped. "Ah." Adrien said, checking the screen before looking towards the door. "I… have to go now" he began, green eyes turning towards where both their friends had disappeared to "Can you tell them that I had to go?" he asked her, and she nodded. "Great, uh… bye Marinette" he said, quickly leaning over to plant a soft peck on her cheeks before retreating as fast as his injured side allowed him. Had Marinette not been fully distracted, she would have noticed how he favored his right side as he walked.

Marinette's reply was a breathless "bye" as the blond blushed and waved bye back at her; her hand reaching to touch her face where she could almost feel the imprint of his lips.

Alya and Nino, however, had been watching the whole exchange from behind a vending machine. And once Adrien left, Alya knew that she had to arrive to give moral support to her best friend; fearing that her friend would actually _implode_. "Alright, so we found pretty much all the tickets." Alya wrapped her arm around Marinette's shoulders, guiding her to where Nino was holding the tickets. "Where's Adrien?" she asked

"Uh… he had to go. The car was here" Marinette said, thankful that they weren't asking anything else, because she was quite afraid that she wasn't going to be able to form much coherent answers after everything that had happened.

* * *

Soon enough they had all gone home, and somehow, Marinette had been tricked into holding her share of tickets as well as Adrien's. By accident. _Riiight_.

Today was filled with emotions. There was way too much that she still needed to process. For that, she needed Tikki. Thankfully, her parents were out on date night, so she was home alone right now, which allowed Tikki to be flying out in the open, instead of simply waiting in her room. Marinette boiled some water, making herself some tea, and grabbing a plate and filling it up with cookies. "Those enough?" she asked the Kwami, who nodded enthusiastically, and Marinette added a couple more for good measure.

"So, have you come to a decision just yet?" Tikki asked, as the pair reached her room, the tea mug placed on her desk, as well as the cookie platter. However, Marinette simply collapsed on top of her bed.

"I don't know Tikki" she said, covering her face with her hands. She felt the ladybug charm cool against her heated face and the girl sat up quickly. "Chat knows" she said, eyeing Tikki with absolute horror in her face.

The Kwami looked at her, tilting her head. "Knows what?"

"Who I am!" Marinette hopped off of her bed. "How he talked to me before… It was like he knew something and … he touched the charm. Like he knew exactly where it'd be" the girl paced around her bed room. "And of course he knows the charm… he picked it for me!"

"Well wouldn't he have said something to you?" Tikki placed the cookie down, flying around the overtly stressed Marinette.

Good point. "Exactly!" She said, but that didn't seem like something he'd do, somehow. "So why hasn't he?"

Tikki pursued her lips, as if thinking of the answer. "Well… he clearly likes you. And you have been pretty adamant in keeping your identity a secret."

Marinette threw herself on the floor, staring at the ceiling as she pondered. "That's… true. I guess." She rolled on her stomach "What do you think he's waiting for?"

"I have no way of knowing, really" Tikki said "but if you asked me, I think he's waiting for you to be sure."

"Have the older ladybug and chats known the other's secret identity?"

"Yes. Plenty of times" Tikki said. "It just ends up happening when two people trust each other as much as you do. It comes with the territory I guess."

Ok. So that solved one of her problems. She guessed that nothing bad would happen if Chat knew her secret identity, even if she didn't know his. Maybe she wasn't ready for that step yet; at least not until she figured out what her feelings meant.

"I still don't know what to do about that whole thing" Marinette confessed. "I got so angry at Chat for flirting with me. I thought he was trying to _cheat_ on _me_ with… _me_." She rolled her eyes at how ridiculous that sounded. "But he _knew_ it was me" Marinette stood up from her spot on the ground, returning to pacing around the room. "This is too complicated." she whined, and Tikki nuzzled the side of her face in comfort. Marinette picked up the tea mug, sipping it carefully, before asking Tikki "Do you think he's okay?" she asked "He seemed pretty hurt."

Tikki had flown back to the desk, where she had busied herself with picking the next variety of cookie she was going to eat now. "Who? Adrien or Chat?" she said, currently preocuppied on the plate.

 _Crash_.

The Kwami turned back, to face a now extremely stunned Marinette, blue eyes opened almost comically wide. The tea mug was in pieces on the floor, as well as the tea, which soaked her pants and the pretty rug that adorned the floor of her room.

Tikki looked at Marinette cautiously, approaching her slowly. What had she said that provoked this reaction… _Oh_.

 _Oh darn it._

"Mari…" Tikki said, "Please be careful, you could cut your feet on the shards!"

"I am an idiot!" Marinette exclaimed, flailing at her kwami "It was all _right_ there!" Of course it was! Chat noir was at the arcade _first_ , AND Adrien had been lagging behind, and… "How did I miss it?!"

She had been so _obsessed_ with her crush on Adrien, that she had completely missed the signs that pointed to his other identity! He was also limping a little today, _Just like Chat_. And the cut. It was the same exact cut!

Idiot.

Also, with the nickname cross over today. Yes. Chat called Marinette Princess and Ladybug 'my lady'. Even Adrien kept on calling her _'my lady'_ as they walked through the arcade today.

Oh God he _knew_ she was Marinette. And he wanted her to know!

Tikki looked at the teenager who was in the middle a full on freak out. "Marinette…" she said, trying her best to calm her down "breathe! You're worrying me here" she tried to nudge her softly so that she at least moved from where the tea mug shards could do some real damage.

"Tikki!" Marinette said, hopping away from the dangerous area, much to the Kwami's relief. "Adrien is Chat!" She whispered that last part at her Kwami, her blue eyes large with shock. "And I didn't _see_ it!" She ran her fingers through her hair, messing up her hair, before she simply took the hair ties off, throwing them in the general direction of her bed. "And he knows it's me!" Marinette began pacing the room again, her hands by her hair as she kept on muttering and rambling on about all the clues that should have taken her to this conclusion a _long_ time ago.

"Did you know?" she asked Tikki.

"Well, no" Tikki said, which was true. She didn't know for _sure_ it was Adrien, although today had pretty much settled any doubt in her mind "We don't know who the other chosen one is. Not unless you choose to reveal your identities.

"We?"

"Oh, Chat has another Kwami just like me" Tikki paused "Sort of." When it came to kwami's, Plagg was another category altogether. "And even if I had known, I am not allowed to tell you. It's a discovery you two have to make. It would cheapen what you two have if I intervened in any way out of what I do now"

"Right." Marinette paused. That made sense. The girl sat on her bed again, hugging a pillow to her chest. "What do I do with this now?" she asked Tikki, feeling thoroughly exhausted

"Well, isn't this a good thing?" Tikki said, "You like two boys. They're the same person." the kwami tapped her chin, hovering above Marinette's shoulder, before landing softly. "But you don't _have_ to do anything. Now that you know, maybe talk to him about it… only if you feel like it." Marinette nodded "But not now, you're tired, and if you try to transform now, you'll probably fall off a roof out of sheer exhaustion. And that's not good for anyone."

The girl nodded, a small smile appearing on her face as she obediently climbing into bed. Now that the surprise had worn off, her body felt extremely heavy. She was too tired to keep on thinking about this. Tomorrow though, she needed to talk to him. _Alone_.


	4. Part IV Chances

**Part IV. Chances.**

Adrien was in pain. And not the _poetic_ kind of pain either, _'woe is me'_ and all that; but more like _'his ribcage hurts to move'_ kind of pain. The fight against Wreckage had left some consequences that he had had to deal with right after getting home. Natalie had freaked out over his appearance, immediately calling a plastic surgeon to come visit him. After all, a model with a scarred face was probably one out of a job. No matter who his father was.

The good thing about the doctor's visit, was that the man also managed to check on his ribs, determining that the pain the blond boy felt was mostly because the muscles in his torso had been slightly bruised, all fault at being one of the _victims_ in the latest akuma's attack. All in all, it would heal on its own; he'd just be sore for a couple more days. After giving Adrien a cream for his cut, and setting up a follow up, the doctor was on his way.

The cut wasn't even all that deep, really. Whatever make up the slapped on him for a photoshoot would definitely cover it. It was the whole _'can't move without wincing_ ' bit that bothered him.

The blond boy laid back on his bed carefully, wincing at the pain it caused to move. Once the coast was clear, Plagg finally came out of his hiding place. "Waah. I thought he'd _never_ leave" The Kwami plopped softly on top of Adrien's bed. "I'm staaaarving" the tiny cat complained, and Adrien simply pointed towards his nightstand, where he had a small container with some _'back up'_ cheese. "No Camembert, but It'll do" he said, before picking a small piece of Edam and gnawing on it.

Adrien rolled his eyes, "I'm good here, by the way" he deadpanned, watching as Plagg ate the cheese.

"I know" Plagg said, pausing his meal for a second "And I'm not complaining because I know you're all beat up and stuff" If not, he'd be demanding better quality cheese.

"Can you bring the remote over here?" Adrien asked, "I think I'll watch Tv for a while"

"Sure thing loverboy" The kwami said, cackling at the annoyed look on his face. "Did you see the look on her face before she transformed?" Plagg laughed "You could see the gears turning in her head!"

The blond yawned "I don't know." Somehow, Plagg wasn't exactly who he'd like to have this chat with; but he was all Adrien had so far. He could to Nino, sure; but solely about Marinette. There was no delving into the secret world of Ladybug and Chat Noir. And right now, his problems were right in the middle of those worlds. There was no separating them for this. "Do you think it worked?" he asked the kwami

"I don't know" Plagg shrugged, bringing the remote and dropping it by Adrien's hand. "That thing is heavy" The black cat kwami tilted his head at Adrien "I don't think you'll last much watching TV. Whatever the doc gave you is probably going to knock you out in like… minutes"

"I'm just bored" Lies. He just didn't want to think about whether Marinette would finally realize what was going on. He _hoped_ she would, but with his life he had already given up with expecting much of people. The blond boy yawned. Huh. Maybe he was more tired than he wanted to acknowlodge. Maybe he should just give in to sleep. His eyelids were heavy, and he finally decided to give in to the exhaustion that was dragging him into a deep sleep.

* * *

Adrien wasn't at school.

"I think Natalie told him to stay home" Nino mentioned. "He's kind of sick, so they told him to stay home for now."

Sick? _Hurt_ was more like it. Marinette could remember the hit he took; and she had to do her best not to wince as she remembered the tumble his body took as it hit the shelves the day before. Still, she wanted to play it _cool_. "Oh. He did have that one cut on his face" she said, attempting to add to the conversation, but not particularly feeling interested in it, now that it was certain that she wouldn't get to talk to the blond today.

Maybe she'd have to catch him later tonight.

* * *

He wasn't out at patrol either. Which was something she figured out might happen, if he'd been resting up, then going out at night was probably not the best idea for him. Still, she had the small hope that she would have been able to talk to him tonight. She could try and contact him… she had ways to do so, as superheroes and even the mundane cellphone.

But how would she even begin? _'Hi, so I'm totally sure you're both the boy and superhero I happen to have a crush, and I just figured this out yesterday'_. Because she was a stupid idiot who had missed the most basic signs in the world.

Marinette sighed, hugging her knees up to her chest as she looked at the peaceful city before her. Perhaps it was time to head on back home. The girl stood up, glancing in the general direction of Adrien's house. It was far too late for her to chance a visit, and even if she did, what would she say?

Maybe she'd have a best chance tomorrow.

* * *

Adrien didn't show up the next day; or the day after. And Nino had no idea where he was, as they boy didn't answer his phone. They were currently on her last class of the day, and there had been no sign of Adrien. Apparently Nino had tried to call him, but the phone had been off the couple of times he had tried to reach the blond.

Marinette was taking all of this as a terrible, _terrible_ omen.

Class was finally over for the day, and as the students were gathering his things to go home, Nino's phone vibrated on top of his desk, making a loud rattling sound. The boy picked it up "Huh" he said "That explains it" the boy began typing a response

That caught Marinette's attention, though it was Alya who spoke up first "What does?" She asked, eyeing curiously the cellphone that the boy was looking at.

"Adrien" he said "he just texted. He's in Milan for a photoshoot. He said that he'd forgotten his charger, and just got a new one for his phone."

"wooow" Alya said "Very fancy" It was a rather odd to have a classmate that was so normal, yet held a job so… _glamorous_. "Did he say when he'd be back?" Bless Alya and her innate ability to help Marinette without her actually _saying_ so.

"No idea," he answered, tapping on his cellphone, before turning back to his classmate "juuust asked." The phone buzzed again "Sunday, it seems"

Sunday. _Sunday?_ That was almost four more days away! Hadn't she already been standing; she would have plopped on her desk dramatically. As it was, she could only look as her two friends carried the conversation between themselves.

Nino bid his goodbyes and Alya turned to Marinette "Are you okay?" she asked, the two of them had barely had the chance to talk alone with Marinette about the Arcade, since they had tagged along with Nino now that Adrien hadn't been in class.

"I'm fine!" the other girl replied. "Just tired after school"

Alya looked at her quizzically "We never really talked about that day, you know" she pressed, as the two friends made their way out of the school. Alya had seen Adrien give her a kiss, granted, on her face, but a kiss nonetheless, and Marinette had _yet_ to freak out about it. Now, _that_ wasn't normal "Have you heard from that other guy?" she questioned.

Was Marinette _really_ over Adrien Agreste? This was… _surprising_.

"Oh, nothing really happened" Marinette said. She still wasn't ready to deal with everything that had happened that day. Amazing reveal included. "And I haven't heard from that _him_ either" she said, dejection flashing over her face.

Chat had done no effort to reach her; not after that day. And while knowing now, that his silence had more to do with the fact that he was far away working, than him hating her, was _somewhat_ relieving, but it brought another problem. She wouldn't see him until _Sunday_.

"I just…" she said, "I need to think some things through first" she told Alya and for once, her friend simply nodded. It was evident that the girl was conflicted; and she really needed some space.

* * *

Back at her home, above the family's pastry shop, Marinette _planned_. Now, she could contact him as she had contacted Chat, so many times before. But she had already decided that it needed to be a conversation had face to face. She wouldn't chance it via phone, or text. So now, she needed to get all her research done to make a plan.

Her room looked bare. She had already removed every trace of her fangirl crush from her room, leaving instead some pictures they had taken with Alya on a sunny day months ago. She was just trying to reconcile the image of Adrien with Chat Noir.

Adrien… it seemed that she barely knew him. Sure, she still thought he was kind, a good friend, charming… but it seemed that there was a side of him that she would have never guessed. He was also playful, loyal, self-sacrificing to a fault and a bit of a flirt, but it seemed that it was only directed at her.

Well, she guessed she could understand. Marinette was just so boring, compared to Ladybug. Her superhero identity was strong, confident and able of doing so much more than Marinette. She couldn't even imagine the thought of Adrien knowing and actually liking her.

Hence her confusion.

"You could just talk to him" Tikki said. "maybe you just need to tell him all that's bothering you right now"

"He gets back home on Sunday" Marinette said "I could just… go meet him. I don't want to do this at school" She said, before turning on her computer and beginning her planning.

"That could work" Tikki said, sure that Marinette would just call him up and arrange a meeting, like a normal person.

 _Marinette was not a normal person._

* * *

Marinette had managed to make a plan. There had been research, and looking up flight arrival times and everything she needed. She was almost certain that Adrien was already home. Tonight, this Sunday night, she would go and talk to him. This was her plan.

After patrol, of course, Tikki had so gently reminded her. Despite everything, Ladybug had a mission she needed to keep up with. Paris needed to be safe, _before_ she went and solved her love life's issues. But after a couple of hours, in which she had somehow ended up close to Adrien's house, she figured that it was time to put her plan into action.

Her plan had a big, BIG issue.

She had _no clue_ which window was Adrien's room. None. The superhero fidgeted, as she looked at the big mansion… There were four outcomes possible, in different order of success

 **Successful** : She found Adrien's room and was able to talk to him.

 **Not so successfu** l: She found the window to an empty room.

 **Bad** : Getting in the room of someone who lived and worked in the house.

 ** _Terrible_** : She entered Gabriel Agreste's room by mistake.

Marinette shuddered; that was definitely an option she didn't want to chance. "Maybe this was not the best idea" She muttered, standing on the roof, looking at the house. There were a couple of windows with the lights on, but she was still too unsure of whether she should try them.

Tikki frowned, though Marinette couldn't see her right now "I don't know, to tell the truth" said the little kwami. On one side, it would be great for both heroes to talk about this; on the other, maybe barging in his house _was not the best idea_. But, he had pretty much put every clue out there for her to find, so maybe it was what he wanted. It really bothered Tikki when she had no good advice to give. "Do you _want_ to?"

Blue eyes turned towards the large house and a decision was made "Yes." Sure, she could have called him on the phone, but this wasn't a _phone-kind-of-chat._ "He hasn't been in school after that day; And Nino said he'd be back today. And this isn't a conversation I want to have at school" Just the mere thought of discussing their secret identities while their classmates (or even worse, _Chloe_ ), lurked around was… _terrifying_.

Granted, she could wait until tomorrow morning. But… she didn't want to. Besides, what if he didn't come back? What if after last time, his father decided that he was to be homeschooled again! She wanted to talk to him, maybe even smack him a little for not telling her that he knew. But first… talk.

Granted, she was being a _bit_ dramatic about this, but she had waited _days_ already. And she was _pretty_ sure that Tikki needed a break from her drama.

The girl landed on the top of the main gate with a soft thud and crouched. She didn't want to be seen stalking the place _(which she totally was)_. "There are too many rooms in this place" she complained, frowning up at the house.

Okay. Maybe this wasn't her brightest moment. Give it to her to make _everything_ in her life related to Adrien _so awkward._

It was then, that her luck (for once, when it came to her love life), decided to give her a hand. A window opened up and the quite distinct voice of one Adrien Agreste was heard loudly complaining "How long did you keep that cheese there?! It's moldy and gross!"

"It's not gross, it's _ripe!"_ another voice replied. "Don't throw it away!"

"I know _that_ voice" Tikki said, laughing. That managed to bring a smile to the young hero's face as she looked around, plotting her way in. Maybe swinging from there… she could definitely make it in without causing that much of a ruckus.

Meanwhile, inside the house, the argument continued. "The whole room stinks!" Adrien said, "I'll have to leave the window open so that I can _breathe_ " The boy pushed the window open as much as he could. "I'll get you your cheese Plagg; just don't… _hoard_ it in the room. You'll forget again and then it's like a stink bomb went off in my room" he had to sleep here, it was an assault on his senses. Just his luck that his kwami would like only the stinkiest kinds of cheese.

"I don't know why you're complaining, the smell is an _improvement_ " Plagg said, refusing to give an inch in this subject.

"Well, we'll see who's complaining tomorrow, when we're _surrounded_ by mosquitoes" he said putting his pajama shirt on, "Or there are flies _all over_ your precious cheese.

This was enough to alert Plagg, who most certainly did not share his cheese. So he flew over to the window, trying to calculate just how much of a possibility bugs were, and just how much of a threat they presented to his favorite snack. It was then when he saw the red blur flying across the window, and then perched over the top, right where only Plagg could see it. Well, lovesick Adrien was probably going to _loooove_ this.

Ladybug right outside Adrien's room? Oh, this was _priceless_.

The Kwami hovered besides the window, "Adrien?" Plagg said, almost shivering with excitement. He took a glance at Ladybug, who was seemingly angling herself to drop through the window. Oooh, he had to time this _perfectly_. Chances like this did not appear every day.

"Hmm?" Adrien replied, checking his phone and reaching for the charger on his nightstand. His back to his Kwami as he finished everything he needed to before bed.

Behind him, Ladybug landed with a soft thud on the floor, just as the Kwami added, glee evident in his voice. "Wrong bug" Tikki would have face palmed if she had been able. The best they could do was Marinette eyeing Plagg with a very unimpressed look on her face as the Kwami broke in a fit of giggles.

"What are you…?" Adrien's words died right in his mouth as he saw the masked Ladybug standing in his bedroom. His eyes widened as his cellphone dropped to the ground.

 _Nailed it!_ Score one for Plagg.

"Um… hi!" the girl said, waving her hand nervously as she balanced on the heels of her feet. He was getting ready for bed. This had not been the best moment. But she was here and she had already reached the end of whatever she had planned for this. Yup. Her plan pretty much amounted to _'1.- find Adrien. 2.- Talk'_.

 _Crap_.

"uh… hi" A very flustered Adrien said, quickly picking up his phone and placing it carelessly on his night table. "You're _… here"_

"Yup" she said, her hands clasped together in nervousness "I… I thought we could talk?" she said, wincing at how… _awkward_ this whole thing was. The fact that Adrien was seemingly stunned into silence did not help matters. "If you want to, that is" she said, _'maybe this was a terrible idea.'_

"No no" Adrien quickly stepped up, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought of a plan. They couldn't be loud, or else Natalie would go nosing around. But she would have no issue with him watching TV, especially with his Father away on business. So that was a good cover. Adrien turned it on, leaving whatever channel was on, on an appropriate volume. "So that no one can hear us talking" he said.

Ladybug sat down on the border of his bed, her hands demurely folded together in her lap. Adrien did the same, the teenagers sitting at a considerable distance.

Now, how to begin this conversation… "Um…" she began "so, you know then?" she asked him, focusing her blue eyes shyly glancing at him. Adrien nodded, not quite able to speak just yet. It was a rather conflicting image to see Ladybug speaking in a tone that had always been so… _Marinette_. The tone normally associated with Ladybug was filled with confidence, her blue eyes sparking with icy fire.

The girl seemed to ponder for a second, before adding, "How long have you known?"

Now he had to speak "For sure? About a week" he said, "I've had my doubts for a while now though."

 _Oh._ That wasn't something she had been expecting; and her face told that. She thought she had been _so_ _careful._ "Really?" she tilted her head, a small look of confusion appearing on her face.

That was what prompted Adrien to speak up "It was all little things, really. But… I knew Ladybug, so it all begun to add up"

Well. That made sense, she figured. If she hadn't been so stubborn, she would have probably figured it out so much earlier. "You're faster than I am" she conceded, rubbing her arm nervously before she adjusted her position on her bed. Her back was going to _kill_ her tomorrow unless she got more comfortable. Out of habit, she sat cross-legged on his bed, facing the blond, who followed her movement.

"Do _You_ know?" Adrien asked, giving her a cautious look. All signs pointed to yes, she had connected the dots, but she was still under her transformation. That led him to think that she did know, but still didn't want to remove her mask in front of him. And if that was the case, well; that would be a large blow to his feelings. The girl nodded in reply and Adrien pressed on, "Who am I" he pressed..

"You're Chat" she answered, leaving out the ' _my_ ' part for now. This conversation was awkward as it was. She was sure of it, but… it felt so weird to call Adrian, bare faced Adrien, _Chat Noir._ But it was the truth, and that was the reason she'd come here in the first place. "Who am _I?_ " she asked back, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Marinette" he simply said, his voice shy, but filled with certainty of a knowledge that he held dear. The girl let out a breath that she wasn't aware she had been holding. "Can I see you?" he asked, his voice filled with anticipation.

 _Could he?_ Yes. That had been the _original_ plan. First, making sure that whatever she had figured out, was actually correct. And it all ended with Marinette leaving her transformation and everything being all fine and dandy.

But life had a tendency of being slightly more difficult than the fairy tales that lived in her imagination.

So, at his question, she had one of her own "Are you ** _sure_**?" Was he? Because that was the last step in destroying the barrier between brave, interesting Ladybug and boring, awkward and plain Marinette. So he needed to be sure, because if he wasn't and she did it… then, she wasn't sure she could handle it.

Adrien's response was all she needed to hear. "I've been just waiting for you to catch up, my lady"

Marinette let out a shaky laugh, she was still really nervous about this. _"Are you sure Marinette?"_ she could hear Tikki's voice, who, being so close to her, knew just how difficult this was for the teenager. Marinette nodded, saying nothing for a second, biting her lower lip as she thought.

"It's ok Tikki. I'm sure" she said, and she closed her eyes as the flash of light uncovered the plain Marinette. She was wearing jeans and a regular shirt, but today she was wearing the necklace on her neck. She felt she didn't have to hide it anymore; especially if she ended up showing Adrien, who she really was.

She kept her eyes closed for a second, waiting for any type of sign that she should flee the scene, before he felt shy fingers link with hers. Blue eyes glanced at Adrien, before giving him a small shy smile.

Tikki flew out, hovering around Marinette with worry in her eyes, before seeing the two shyly holding hands. _Ah, that was good._ They would figure it out. She just knew it. They just needed a bit of privacy, and that was something Tikki could actually help with. "Hi!" She told Adrien, "I'm Tikki, and _we_ …" she looked at Plagg "…We'll be over there" she told the pair, before grabbing hold of Plagg and dragging him away, complains dutifully ignored.

The two teenagers looked at their Kwamis as they flew off before turning their attention back to each other, their fingers still linked together. "Is he always like that?" Marinette asked, trying to break the silence.

"He's being good today" he said, before chuckling at the look on Marinette's face "he has a bit of a one track mind." He smiled at the chuckle that left Marinette, gaining the courage to ask. "Can I ask you something?" The blond waited for the girl to give the go ahead and continued "Why tonight?"

"I couldn't wait anymore" Marinette confessed "I thought I would see you at school the next day, but you weren't, and then Nino said you left to Milan" The girl fidgeted, her fingers still linked with Adrien's "I just wanted to talk to you alone."

Adrien nodded, "I didn't hear from you after the arcade… I thought I had made everything clear and that you'd talk if you wanted… so I tried to give you your space." Sure it had been just a couple of days, but after his phone had died, it had been a full on tragedy; and he had spent all free time hunting a new charger and reconfiguring his phone. Sure, he had texted back and forward with Nino, but despite Adrien's best efforts to get some information out of his friend, Nino didn't seem to get the hint.

She had the good grace to blush. "It took me a _little_ longer than the arcade, actually. Although If I had known you'd be gone this many days, I might have shown up earlier" she confessed.

Green eyes glanced at the necklace, hanging from her neck. "Why did you run away that day?" He asked, and her eyes followed his gaze, and she knew fully well that he meant that day at the roof.

Well, Honesty was the best policy. "Because I liked two boys and I didn't know that they were both the same person" she explained, chuckling at how silly that sounded. "It felt like disloyal to give in when I still liked the other" she confessed. The small smile on Adrien's face told her that he at least understood. "Why didn't you ask me out in school?"

"I couldn't. _I tried."_ Adrien sighed. "I'm just better at certain things when I'm… _not me"_ That's why he kept on flirting with her while being Chat Noir. It was easier to be as charming as he wanted when no one knew who he was. When no one expected anything from him. The Adrien Persona was fine and all, but discovering Chat was an outlet to everything that was imposed to him. "You were more at ease when I was Chat too"

"It was easier because I _refused_ to like Chat" she said, "At first. When we didn't really know each other, you know?" Marinette sighed "And I had a crush on the new boy at school, so I really didn't have the time to pay attention to a flirty partner" She caught the look on his face and continued "But then I saw the Real Chat." The girl inched closer, lacing their fingers together as she paused, looking for the right words to say. "and he was great. He made me laugh, he cheered me up when I needed it, We could talk, and even though the flirting put me off for a while, I trust him with my _life._ " _Present_ tense. Not past. She would _still_ trust him with everything she had "He was what I didn't know I needed." And the idea of losing either side of the boy she liked was scarier than she could verbalize. "And then, I started liking him too. And I didn't know what to do" She exhaled loudly, before continuing. "Ladybug is all I wish I could be" Graceful, strong, in charge. "I thought you'd be dissapointed with the reality behind the mask."

That coudn't have been further from the truth. "I saw you from afar" he said, "talking with our friends, joking around. And I _really_ wanted to be in that part of your life, but something always happened." Whether it was her own shyness, Chloe meddling, or a random Akuma that destroyed the moment. Adrien and Marinette _never_ got a break. "But Chat did get to see you like that… though I didn't _always_ know it was you; but when I started to figure it out, I could see _you_ … you know. You _are Ladybug,_ even if you can't see it." He caught Marinette's confused look "When you don't notice me, I can see it." the boy chuckled lightly "Nino kept getting on my case about it"

"I… I can see you too, you know." Marinette begun "I was just… so set on separating the two of you that I never even wanted to think that things could be like this." Now it just seemed so _obvious_.

Through shuffling and moving without really noticing, both teens were sitting on his bed, cross-legged; right in front of each other, knees touching lightly. Her left hand was laced with his right, thumbs tracing imaginary circles on the other's skin. Through the awkward and nervous racking conversation, it was a relief to see that the other one hadn't pulled away.

The two fell into a small silence, though it wasn't as awkward as before. It was as if everything they'd both wanted was just so close, but neither knew just how to cross on to the other side. _Where did this leave them?_ Adrien removed his hand from Marinette's, causing the girl to look at him expectantly. There was just something he needed to do.

"I can't believe it was you all this time" she breathed out.

Adrien decided to go for it. There was something on the backburner, something that had been circling his head ever since he gave her that necklace. _The kiss that wasn't._ Luckily, now there were no Kwamis to interrupt, or transformations that they had to look after. It was just _them_ , and that made it even more nerve-racking than before. Sometimes he did need Chat to be able to muster the courage to move.

He had thought about kissing her during the arcade non-date; but it just… didn't feel right there. Too many people. It wasn't special enough.

"Marinette, uh" he said, looking carefully in her face for any sign that she wanted to flee the scene; he couldn't really find any so he began leaning forward, which considering their position; it was less than comfortable. The girl's blue eyes glanced at him, her breath hitching in her throat as she seemed to realize what was happening. And as it seemed to happen so often during their heroes battles, she met him halfway, pressing her lips against his. The pressure was shy, barely more than a peck, which he returned immediately with one of his own, traded back and forward as they both relaxed into each other. His free hand began to slowly make its way up her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin as it did so, and found its resting place on the side of her face.

This was not a kiss to _break a spell,_ or to prove a point. They were both in their right mind and making their own decisions. They both wanted this, wanted _each other_. And even if the kiss she'd given him to break the dark cupid's hold on Chat a while ago had been technically longer… she wouldn't trade this one for anything in the world.

They broke apart, with a blush and a smile on their faces. Adrien was the first to break the silence "I've been wanting to do that for a long time"

She laughed, licking her lips nervously "Actually…" Marinette began, ready to remember him about the Cupid's arrow incident. (Which he was aware of, but despite many pleas for an encore… he had been denied).

"I don't remember that, so it doesn't count" he interrupted, and kissed her again, tugging the girl a little closer to him, which she completely allowed, crawling over to sit by his side. His ribs smarted for a second and he did his best to not react to the pain; while the bedrest had been merely a precaution; it didn't mean that he wasn't _sore_. Marinette, however, hadn't missed the wince.

"Wait" she said, pulling away to look at him. "You're still hurt" She said, blue eyes glancing at his side "is.. Is it _broken?"_

He shook his head "Just sore. I might have bruised something; but the doctor said it was nothing to worry about" he tried to tug her close again.

Teenage boys, _really_.

The girl swatted at his hand "You're going to hurt yourself more!" and she would _not_ have that. Adrien's face tuned uncertain and if Marinette had been paying a ltitle bit more attention, and Marinette rolled her eyes, "I'm not leaving just yet, silly cat, let's just get you more comfortable" She wouldn't want him to be in pain because of her!

Also. She would very much like that kissing thing to continue for at least a while longer.

The nickname seemed to be enough for him to relax and allow Marinette to help him settle. The girl made quick work of grabbing some pillows and helped him settle back down. Marinette kicked off his shoes and settled besides him, both of them looking at the ceiling as their hands found each other almost as if they had a mind of its own.

"What happens now?"

Adrien's question had been in the back of Marinette's for a while "I… don't know" she said, biting her lower lip nervously. "We could try?" she said, looking at him expectantly.

"Try?"

"Well, we need to figure out how this works… in _every_ side of what we do". There was so much they didn't know about each other just yet. The intricacies of how their personalities and secret identities melded in the middle, making them just who they were.

Things couldn't be easy, for the city's famous superheroes. There were aspects to every decision that they took together that had to be properly thought through. Being together added another layer of complications to their already complicated dynamic. For instance, if Hawkmoth knew that Ladybug and Chat Noir were together… that would make it so much easy to target them.

The blond rolled on his side, so he could look better at Marinette, and the girl mirrored his movements as well. He let go of her hand, to reach for the tips of one of her pony tails. She did have a point, there was another side of being a superhero, and that was that he needed to think more aspects to any decision. It wasn't _just them_. But then again, he was _pretty_ sure of this "We can" he finally said, "try, that is. I just want to say" he added, an unexpected seriousness overtaking his handsome features. "I'm _all in_. I want this."

Marinette let out a breathless laugh, a bashful grin taking over her face, before she leaned over, and kissed him softly. Because that was something that she could do now. So she would. "I want this too" she told him, "We just need to take it slow" because really, if they showed up at school and started kissing in front of everyone, and being as gross as she could guess they were being, people would ask questions. And there was probably not a good answer either of them could give right now.

Adrien nodded, but grinned at her, his hand on the side of her face, pulling her closer for another kiss. "I kind of want to keep doing this" he spoke against her lips, eliciting a laugh from Marinette, who in answer booped his nose with her finger. He laughed too, feeling lighter than he had in a while "I can ask you out now" he pointed out. "Without the audience this time" Because as much as Nino and Alya were good friends and had good intentions, they needed to work on their matchmaking skills.

It was true, he could actually ask her out now. And considering everything, maybe she wouldn't _spontaneously combust_ when he did it. "You can" she said, "I will even answer you this time" Well, _hopefully_. Maybe she'd be reduced to a blushing mess next time she saw him, remembering how they were pretty much _kissing in his room_.

Marinette began running her fingers through his blond hair, something she'd thought about doing for ages and she found that it was a good idea, It was just as soft as she'd pictured. The look on Adrien's face was pure bliss, his eyes closing as he relaxed fully into her touch.

"I never could understand how you didn't swoon over chat" Adrien complained, making her laugh.

 _"Weeeeell… "_. To tell the truth, it _kind_ of worked. Just not in the way Adrien thought it did. It was more endearing now, than _swoon_ worthy. His best bet was a light combination of both; which was not something she would share, or else she'd be putty in his hands. "That's why I was so mad at you before"

"Mad?" Adrien's eyes opened at this, curiously eyeing Marinette who was nervously

"Well, _jealous_ " she said, feeling her cheeks heat up as she rambled on the story "At the arcade. When you had already transformed and were all… flirty with me… Marinette me, not Ladybug" She felt silly now, considering everything "And I was so mad that you would flirt with _me_ , when you'd just given this to Ladybug" she said, touching the pendant hanging from her neck.

"But I knew"

"I didn't… Well. I didn't know then… By then, all I knew was that you probably knew who I was" She had _really_ freaked out about that. "But there were things to be done, and then you got hurt…" Time was never on their side when wearing their transformations. It was like a game of cat and mouse with trying to get the right moment.

"What gave me up?"

Marinette tapped the small cut under his bottom lip, and he took the chance to plant a kiss on her fingertips. "You had the same cut, and you got hit on the same side." she said "I was worrying about it at home, and Tikki asked me who I was worrying about. It all began clicking then." For _now_ , she'd leave out the freaking out incident in her room.

"Does she like cheese? Cause I feel like I need to give her all the cheese I have."

The girl laughed, a sound that he was still getting used to hearing so close, and to something _he'd_ said.. "More into cookies, really." She resumed petting his hair, and Adrien relaxed again, and it was then that Marinette noticed just how _tired_ he looked. With everything that had happened, she'd almost forgotten that he had just gotten in today. "How was Milan?"

The blond yawned, though he did the best thing to hide it, he just was so starved for physical affection that he just wanted to stay awake as long as humanly possible to enjoy it.. "Pretty. I don't get much time to sightsee, with the shoots and everything, really" he said, "Father stayed though, some contract things that needed to get done" At least he'd gotten to spend some time with his father; even if it had been merely on the plane.

His eyes closed, and Marinette was sure that he was going to start purring any second now. The mere thought of it was enough to bring a smile on her face. "You're tired" she pointed out, her voice barely above a whisper. _Maybe she should go._

"Don't go yet" he said, sleepy voice tugging at her heartstrings. He was going to be the death of her, she just _knew_ it. Marinette eyed the clock underneath the Television set. It was barely past midnight. Sure, it was late, but she could spare a couple more minutes. She'd gotten in later during some patrolling. Besides, Tikki was here. ANd if anything, Tikki was responsible. She would likely come to her telling her that they needed to go soon. The kwami was quite concerned with her charge's well being.

Also, it wasn't as if she really _wanted_ to go, in the first place.

"Alright" she said, settling back down, blushing as Adrien's arm settled on her waist, pulling her close. They were officially _cuddling_. She resumed her ministrations on his hair, slightly amused at how fluffed up it was becoming. He was going to look so silly when he got up. "You're definitely going to fall asleep on me though" she whispered to him.

"…'m not" he mumbled, he was going to stay awake out of sheer stubbornness. "where're we going on the date?" he asked, doing his best to stay awake.

"I don't know" Marinette replied. "You haven't asked me out yet" her voice was serious but her blue eyes betrayed the amusement. A good reply if she did say so herself. At least Alya would have been so proud of Marinette.

The earned her a chuckle, low and sleepy as Adrien barely opened her eyes to look at her. "Tomorrow,"

"Tomorrow" she mirrored.

It didn't take Adrien long to finally fall asleep, and that should have been the cue for Marinette to disentangle herself from his arms and go home. But the fact remained that she wanted to stay just a little longer. Her fingers continued petting his hair, massaging his scalp softly, the action soothing to both her and him.

This… had not been the conclusion she had expected, though it certainly beat whatever her brain had conjured up for the best possible scenario. But there was a certain elation that happened when things solved themselves out just perfectly; maybe her ladybug luck did transfer to her civilian life.

Marinette yawned and closed her eyes, there had been far too many emotions today, and even if they'd been resolved, it had taken a toll. She was _exhausted_. Besides, she felt so safe right now, no one could blame her for dozing off… just a little. Her fingers began moving slower and slower, before simply threading themselves in his hair as Marinette too fell asleep.

* * *

The kwamis returned to the room once they didn't hear any more noise, only to find their charges fast asleep, cuddled up against each other.

"They're going to be _really_ gross, aren't they?" Plagg asked her fellow kwami "I can just _see_ it. All _kissy face_ and stuff like that"

Tikki shushed him, before adding "I think they're cute" she said hovering around the bedroom to find something to cover them with. They were on top of Adrien's bed and unless they got covered with something, they were going to catch a cold for sure. "Help me" she said, grabbing the ends of a light throw blanket and signaling for Plagg to get the other corner. "They're going to get sick."

 _"I'm_ going to be sick." the feline said, rolling his eyes.

 _"Stooop"_ Tikki said "They're happy. You know they work so much better when they're happy."

"Sure. You don't have to deal with _rom-com brain over here_ " he said, as both kwamis placed the blanket over the two, as softly as they could. "He was gross _before_ , I can only guess how he'll be now." Plagg eyed them, "He owes me so much cheese for this"

* * *

Blue eyes opened wide, not recognizing her surroundings at first. The bed wasn't hers, and the darkness was unfamiliar. _Right_. She'd fallen asleep at Adrien's room. And judging by the clock on the entertainment system underneath the TV, it was four minutes till five am.

 _Crap_.

Her dad would be waking up soon enough; and while she was sure that they didn't check her room for her, it was not the time to begin testing her own luck. She was pretty sure last night had sucked the well dry.

Adrien Agreste was fast asleep however, his face nestled against Marinette's neck; his even breath blowing against her collarbone and his hand resting comfortably on her hip, protectively draped over her. It was an odd feeling, but not completely unpleasant, to tell the truth. That thought was however, archived and would have to be explored when she was _not in a boy's room at almost five am_.

She felt Tikki settle on her, as close to her face as she could, avoiding any part of Adrien's body. "We need to go!" She whispered to Marinette, "your dad will wake up soon!"

"I know…" the girl said, before looking at the blanket that covered them, blue eyes widening, "Where did _this_ …" Oh no, _what if someone had entered the room and saw them?_

" _We_ got it" she said, glancing to where Plagg snored softly. "I didn't want you to get sick" Marinette nodded, and Tikki added "but we need to go"

"Right." Marinette began to work on disentangling from Adrien, carefully removing his hand from her hip and placing it near his face. Then, she began to slowly roll away from the bed, doing the best not to move it too much. Soon enough, the girl was standing beside it, and looking for her shoes. She had kicked them away carelessly, and the darkness in the room did not help her in the slightest.

What would Alya say if she saw her right now. The redhead might just have a heart attack if she even mentioned the words _'So, I left Adrien's room at 5 am and I almost couldn't find my shoes!'._

Adrien, who by the way, was yet to stir. He was a _really_ heavy sleeper. _Wow_. Marinette was about to ask Tikki to transform when she realized that she couldn't just leave like this. But she didn't want to wake him up either.

Ah. _Dilemmas_.

"Tikki" she whispered "help me find pen and paper" she begged her kwami, who began assisting wordlessly, locating them faster than Marinette could, her eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness. "Here!" she said, "But hurry!" Plagg wasn't the only one who had to deal with a romantic-comedy brained charge.

Marinette nodded, supporting the paper and quickly jotting down a small message. She then carefully placed it on Adrien's bed, right where she'd been.

 _it was really late and I didn't want to wake you. my parents would have murdered me if they saw I wasn't in my room._

 _xo_

 _-m_

"Let's go Tikki" With that, the duo transformed and they were on the mission of: getting home before dawn.

* * *

Adrien woke up the same way he woke up every day. Alarm clock. The blond looked around the room, he was alone. He was about to discard everything that had happened as one of his (rather recurrent) dreams when his hand touched the piece of paper that was on the bed.

Ah. That… made sense.

"We're not going to do this, are we?" Plagg whined "Your face looks goofy right now" and your hair looks like you stuck your fingers in a light socket."

He ignored the kwami for now, a dreamy smile appearing on his face. She had snuck in to visit him. And… he finally got to kiss her. All the bits of last night were fresh in his mind, and if he looked goofy? He didn't care. He had a very good reason to look that way. "Yeah… "Adrien said, stretching as he got up of his bed "I don't mind" The boy then ran his hands through his hair as he headed towards the bathroom. _Heh_. His hair was _so fluffy._

Plagg watched as Adrien went into the next room, ready for his morning shower. _Humans were so weird._

* * *

Alya was thoroughly confused. The Marinette who arrived today at school was nothing like the girl who had left school past Friday. The girl that had met up with her at the schools entrance was… _happy_. More like the Marinette before her _'I-like-two-boys'_ drama. Had she made a _decision?_

"Having a good morning?" She asked, looking at her friend with a questioning look on her face. But she didn't get to ask anything else, as they were joined by their friend, "Hey Nino!"

"Ah, yes" Marinette said, "I just woke up in a good mood." _Hee_. "Hi Nino!"

"Hey!" The boy greeted his two classmates "How was your weekend?" The two friends were began talking, but Marinette was far too nervous to join the conversation as casually as she probably should have.

Soon enough, Marinette could see out of the corner of her eye the big white car that the Agreste family used to drive Adrien back and forth. This was _it._ Nino noticed as well, turning towards his friend as the blond got out of the car and walked towards them.

"Adriaaan!" Nino greeted his friend cheerily "How was work?"

"Oh, it was the same" Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck "At least the change of scenery was nice. So, how was your weekend?" he asked, turning mirthful green eyes at Marinette.

"It was great!" she said, smiling up at him "Your trip back was ok, then?"

Adrien nodded, "Getting home was the best part" he said, before adding. Soon enough, the bell rang and the group headed towards class.

Later, Marinette was alone at her locker, making sure Tikki had her midmorning snack when she found a book that she had definitely not checked out from the library. It was about basic Japanese, so it was pretty obvious it belonged in the languages area. There was a sticky note on top of the cover, which read:

 _Meet me at the library? 11.30_

 _-a._

She looked at the time on her cellphone, and with enough time to spare, she headed over the library. Finding a moment for Adrien to finally ask her out, had been trickier than they thought. Not that Marinette thought that he would have backed out of the whole thing, it had been quite obvious during the day, that Adrien had been trying to get her alone; but as it usually happened, people had a knack for interrupting.

Marinette pushed open the library's door and looked around to see if she found Adrien as she walked towards the section on foreign languages. Sure enough, there he was, busying himself with a book she was pretty sure she had seen him read before.

"Hi" she said, keeping her voice as library appropriated as possible as she held the book she had most definitely not checked out.

"Hey" Adrien said, putting the book back on its place before reaching for the one on the girl's hand. "I was looking for that" he said, placing it back where it belonged.

"Good thing I found it" she said, and couldn't help but grin. despite that she knew what this was about, she was nervous, and by the looks of it all, so was he.

The blond rubbed the back of his neck, a bashful smile taking over his handsome face "It was the best idea I had to get you alone" he said, shifting his weight from one feet to the other.

Alright then, time for the question. "I had a question to ask you today" He began, before being interrupted by a grinning Marinette.

"Yes, that was the agreement." She gave him her best innocent look, but the smile on her face was hard to control. Last week's Marinette would have been a puddle on the ground by now. This was _definitely_ an improvement.

Adrien laughed, "If my lady would let me finish… " he grinned, "Do you want to go out with me?"

Marinette bit her lower lip and answered. "Yes"

Despite everything, and the fact that her answer was something he had expected, it was always nice to hear. The boy got a little closer, so that their conversation wouldn't be heard by any passing students. "So, I thought of somewhere we could go after school if you want" he said, and at the surprise in her eyes he shook his head. "It's a surprise, so I'm not telling"

"Not fair!" she whispered, thought she knew that she was going to let him have that one. Part of the excitement was seeing what he had planned out.

They were so close, smiling at each other. They should probably start moving soon, lest someone found them. Also, if Plagg had been allowed outside, he would have added that they were indeed being _gross_.

Adrien stepped back, looking around to see just where the library's occupants were at this moment. Marinette was just about to ask what was wrong, when a grinning Adrien leaned over and kissed her "I just wanted to do that again" he said, flashing her the most _unapologetic_ smile she had ever seen in her life. Sure, they were going to take it slow and all that, but… as far as he was concerned, he was fully committed to Marinette.

Granted, they had to work out some details on how to act around people. There were good reasons why they needed to be so guarded. But they would have dates to figure that out, for now, he would be happy to sneak as many kisses as he possibly could.

"Oh" she said, blushing slightly; but it just warmed her heart to see him so… _happy._ "That's okay by me" she said, stepping on her tiptoes to plant another peck on his lips. "Let's go to class kitty" she said, tugging lightly on his arm "before someone catches us."

There would be time to share this with their friends. For now, they would keep _another_ little secret. At least this time they weren't alone in it.


End file.
